All Avedis Zildjian cymbals have their name stamped in its bronze. But, we have 2 problems. 1. There is no official track record of the stamps used by Zildjian. And 2. The proces of stamping wasn't very accurate and the imprint varies. So, it is difficult to exactly determine the period that certain stamps were used. We know Avedis Zildjian started production in 1929 in the Quincy, Massachusetts USA.

This is a rough guide to help estimate the age of your cymbal. There is no book, so far, so I took some pictures of my own cymbals over the years and arranged them in a timeline to my best knowledge. I will gladly support any further research.

Old cymbals. In the thirties Zildjian's most popular cymbal measured between 8 and 14 inch, weight paperthin, easily bendable. Drummers also used small but heavy brass cymbals. In the fourties Bebop drummers began to use larger rides and sizzle cymbals. Ride size ranged up to 30 inch and 16 inch Hihats are known from this era. Cymbal weight stepped up with popular music. In the fifties and later little inkstamps on odd shaped models say SWISH, PANG or FLANGED HI-HATS, MEDIUM RIDE etc. Some stories tell about drumshops stamping cymbals according client preferences.

The first fifty years of A.Zildjian can be divided in 6 types as seen below. This is also known as the 'pre-ink' period, so before mid 1970s when Zildjian started the silkscreen ink stamps on the bottom with the open ink-stamp logo.

FIRST STAMP 1929-1939 A.ZILDJIAN

First Stamp 1920s-1930s

12 1/4 inch A. Zildjian paper-thin (353gram) cymbal and came with a Leedy 1937 trapset. Note the "J" in ZILDJIAN, not a half circle round bottom as in later stamps.

First Stamp 1920s-1930s

A.Zildjian 8 inch paperthin splash. This is one of the first stamps. Hard to see in this photo is the "genuine turkish cymbals, made in usa" but it's there, it's a complete logo.

Very rare case of a misprint. This picture was send to me by email from a fellow Zildjian afficionado. More examples of mistakes in the stamp department like double stamps, even double double stamps (4) can be found on the internet drumforums.

First Stamp 1920s-1930s

First Stamp 1920s-1930s

This stamp has the prewar arabic script and a very low 'made in usa'. This Zildjian logo is from a 14 inch (1038 gram) cymbal. Nice hihat bottom for todays standards, but maybe a 'ride' in 1941?

TRANS STAMP 1939-1955 A.ZILDJIAN

Trans Stamp 1940s-1950s

This is the second type Zildjian stamp, also known as the Transition stamp. These stamps pressed harder on the outside, the Z and Co are deeper. This is a smaller logo. Zildjian used these in the 1940s and '50s. Notice the absence of the 3 dots in the Arabic logo.

Trans Stamp 1940s-1950s

This is the second type Zildjian stamp, also known as the Transition stamp. These stamps pressed harder on the outside, the Z and Co are deeper. This is a smaller logo. Zildjian used these in the 1940s and '50s. Notice the absence of the 3 dots in the Arabic logo.

BIG STAMP 1955-1963 A.ZILDJIAN

Big Stamp 1950s

Here we have the hollow-block-lettering Zildjian logo as on a '50s 21 inch med-thin ride.

1950s Big Stamp 1950s

Here we have the hollow-block-lettering Zildjian logo as on a '50s 20 inch ride. (2083 gram)

FIFTIES STAMP

SIXTIES STAMP 1960s

1960s logo of a 13 inch hihat top cymbal.

SEVENTIES THIN STAMP 1970s

Thin Stamp 1970s

This stamp was found on a 16 inch SWISH cymbal from the early 1970s. It is called the thin stamp because the font of ZILDJIAN is as thin as the other letters. The three dots in the Arabic script are missing in this stamp.

Here's another of the 1970s Thin Stamp, it's missing the Made in USA or ... Made in Canada?

OTHER A. ZILDJIAN STAMPS

This stamp can be found on Brilliant A. Zildjian cymbals in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of them are a little heavier and had a brilliant finish.

The Gretsch Co. distributed K.Zildjians from Turkey and A.Zildjians from Rumania in the early 1900s. After Aram moved to the USA in 1928 he and Avedis, start the Avedis Zildjian company, Gretsch didn't use the &Cie trademark and Avedis claimed it in 1958. A US court cancelled the A.Zildjian&Cie, Constantinople trademark, owned by Fred Gretsch Mfg Co, but it took some more years before A.Zildjian could actually use this stamp on their cymbals in the 1970s.

The open ink stamp is found in a mid seventies catalog. Zildjian didn't date their catalogs at that time.